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Fatty acid constituents of Schleichera oleosa (Lour) Oken seed oil

Article · January 2008

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Chanida Palanuvej
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FATTY ACID CONSTITUENTS OF

SCHLEICHERA OLEOSA (LOUR.) OKEN. SEED OIL
Chanida Palanuvej∗ and Niran Vipunngeun
College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330

Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken. Syn. S. trijuga In Thailand, S. oleosa named Ta-Khro is found in
Willd. & Klein [SAPINDACEAE] is an evergreen tree the Northern, North-eastern, South-eastern, South-
with the height up to 30 m and the girth up to 3 m. The western and Central region. It is used in the wood
leaves are paripinnate, 20-40 cm long. The leaflets are industry. The wood is suitable for fuelwood and
2 to 4 pairs, elliptic or elliptic-oblong, coriaceous, charcoal, the bark is used as dye and the young
margins entire and apex rounded. The flowers are leaves are eaten as vegetable.
minute, yellowish green, either male or bisexual, In this study, Ta-Khro seeds were blended and
fascicled in spike like axillary racemes 7.5 to 12.5 cm macerated with hexane. The oil was then separated
long. The fruits are berry, globose or ovoid, and hard and hexane was evaporated in vacuo. The fatty acid
skinned. The seeds are brown, irregularly elliptic, composition was investigated by GC/MS after
slightly compressed, oily, enclosed in a succulent aril. methylation. Ta-Khro seed contain 40.3% oil with
S. oleosa is widely in the sub-Himalayan region, yellowish brown color. Fatty acid profile showed 16
throughout central and southern India, Burma, Ceylon, components. Linolelaidic acid, the trans form of linoleic
Java and Timor. The oil obtained from its seeds is acid, was found as dominant fatty acid (49.7%). The
called Kusum oil or Macassar oil which is traditionally next below were eicosenoic acid or gondoic acid
used for the cure of itch, acne, burns, other skin (29.5%), palmitic acid (7.6%), linoleic acid (5.6%) and
troubles, rheumatism (external massage), hair dressing oleic acid (2.8%) (Table 1).
and promoting hair growth1,2). Oleic acid was previously well-known as major fatty
acid in Kusum oil1). However Basu’s study showed the
Table 1 Fatty acid profile of S. oleosa seed oil different result which reported 50% linoleic acid3). This
Fatty acid % study revealed the trans fatty acid in S. oleosa seed oil.
C14:0 Myristic acid 0.01 Keywords: Schleichera oleosa, seed oil, fatty acid
C16:0 Palmitic acid 7.59
C16:1 n-7 Palmitoleic acid 1.80 REFERENCES:
C18:1 n-9 Cis Oleic acid 2.83 1. Council of Scientific & Industrial Research. 1972. The
C18:2 n-6 Trans Linolelaidic acid 49.69 wealth of India: A dictionary of India raw materials and
C18:2 n-6 Cis Linoleic acid 5.56 industrial products. New Delhi: Publications & Information
C18:3 n-3 alpha-Linolenic acid 0.26 Directorate, CSIR.
C20:1 n-9 Eicosenoic acid 29.54
C20:2 n-6 Eicosadienoic Acid 0.24 2. Maharashtra State Gazetteers Department. 1953.
C21:0 Heneicosanoic Acid 0.04 Maharashtra State Gazetteers Series No. 1: Botany Part-
C22:0 Behenic Acid 1.14 I, Medicinal Plants. Available on http://www.maharashtra.
C22:1 Erucic acid 1.22 gov.in/pdf/gazeetter_reprint/BOTANY/SECTION_I_MEDIC
C24:0 Lignoceric Acid 0.03 INAL_PLANTS.pdf. Access on November 2008.
C22:6 Docosahexaenoic Acid 0.02 3. Basu AK. 1974. Fatty acid composition of Kusum
C19:0 0.01
(Schleichera trijuga) seed oil by gas-liquid chromato-
graphy. Curr Sci 43: 410.

∗
To whom correspondence should be addressed:
chanida.p@chula.ac.th,Tel.0 2218 8158

J Health Res 2008, 22(4): 203

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